Here I Am
by Tessie13
Summary: "She loses the feeling of warmth when he slips off stage, but knows he just wants her to have a spotlight moment for once; and just this once, she'll let it happen." —- Austin/Ally, Ally/Dallas, Trish/Dez


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_here i am_

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_simple friends casually chat together. good friends have real genuine conversations. best friends talk about anything under the sun. but, it is Friends who discuss the most sensitive stuff, talk about the most private matters, ask the most intimate questions, say the most risky things, ponder on the most uncomfortable subjects, and delve deep into each others' weird inner worlds that nobody else knows about. _  
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School. It's not fun for anyone that is invisible. Especially high school. Some people call it the best four years of their life, but for the others, the ones that get shoved up against the wall, and have their books fall out of their hands on 'accident', it's just frustrating.

But for her, it was still fun. Sure, she was still half invisible, but known for being the girl that will be nice to you no matter what. And, like anyone could assume, she loved learning. Her teachers guided her through ten months of education, and she always ended up getting attached to them. It's hard for her to picture life without these adults that have taught her so much, and helped her become the person she is today.

She finally is in the tenth grade, and has full access to the schools music suite 24/7, a luxury few people earn. She was able to pull a few strings, and have Austin get a key, too. And Trish had been in the schools drama department all her life, and taken years of chorus, so she got herself and Dez a pass as well.

It felt great, walking through the double doors that brought back so many memories, only this time knowing she had three best friends behind her, opposed to only one in the previous years. She had known Austin before the past summer, but not on a real friend level.

It wasn't her idea at all. She didn't even want to sign up for the class. And then she got dragged into trying out for select choir, as if normal choir wasn't good enough. She remembered from the years before her phobia developed, how the blinding lights fell directly in her eyes as she sang for the whole crowd. At the time, it was fun. Exhilarating. But now, it's just plain old terrifying.

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"Ally, you'll do fine. You know the song backwards. I hear you singing it n the shower when I come to your house for breakfast."

"She's one of the people I look up to, Austin. Just like Ms. Suzy. I'm not scared of the audition per say, but not getting the solo."

"There is no way you won't get the solo. And besides, even if you don't, then you don't have to confront your stage fright."

"Uh, yeah I will, I'll still have to sing the chorus."

"But you won't get a whole song to yourself, and you won't have to step forward and sing the verses to the songs everyone is singing."

"I'm going to hit you with a guitar if you don't be quiet." She gives him a death glare, and he puts his hands up and steps back in surrender.

"All I want to do is make sure you don't spend your high school years in the back of photos, Ally. I want to make sure years from now, people will point to your picture in the year book and be like, 'Whoa! I remember that! That was when Ally got her first solo! Can you believe that started her career'?"

She suppresses a smile, and gives him a roll of her eyes instead. "Like that would happen, Austin."

All of a sudden, the big steel doors of the auditorium open, and a tall blonde haired girl says, "Ally Dawson?"

She shakes her arms a little, as if shaking off nerves. The she steps forward and in a cracking voice, utters a "That would be me."

The tall girl gestures her head to signal for Ally to go inside, and then walks down the hall, in the other direction.

"You got this, Al. You're the most amazing singer I know." Austin yells to her, as she closes the doors behind her.

Their school isn't poor, and has one of the best funded music programs in the whole state. She's walking with her arms strictly at her sides, down to the stage. Before she has time to think over what the first line of lyrics is, she's in the center of the platform, staring down at every staff member who involves themselves in the theater arts.

"I'm—I—I am—" She's taking in too much air and is pushing it out way to fast. But then she forces herself to do what Austin had told her to do; she goes back to the day in the practice room, where he questioned her about why she wasn't afraid to sing in front of him. And she answered because she was comfortable around him. Because she knew he would never judge her the way others might.

_I'm comfortable, _she repeats to herself, _it's just me with Austin in the practice room, just hanging out. And then, randomly, I start singing the song..._

"I'm Ally Dawson," she says with her eyes closed. "And I will be auditioning, firstly, for my very own solo in the upcoming concert." She opens one eye to look down at the panel of people, and see them all taking notes on what she just said.

"What song do you want to sing?" Her chorus teacher, Mrs. Embervail, asks with a smile.

"I'll be singing Here I Am by Leona Lewis." The adults look concerned for the girl, afraid she won't be able to pull it off. After all, Leona is a big singer that few people can live up too.

The small girl sits down at the piano, and plays the chords with fluency. She's picturing everything in her mind; Austin and his smile are standing next to her, and she's just randomly playing it again, along with others. It's a quiet day in Sonic Boom, so they aren't up in the practice room like normal. Just out in the open, trying to entertain themselves. And in seconds, he's stunned to silence by her take on the song. It's stronger and a little louder, and her eyes close during the intense parts.

It's the same in the audition. The judges are sitting in awe, completely forgetting to write notes. All they can think is how much talent is pouring out of a small girl who hasn't even turned sixteen.

When her hand strokes the last key, and ends her last note, she hears clapping. It's not much of an audience, just five or six people, but it means the world to her.

"Ally, that was...beautiful. I don't see how you can't get your own song. Now, what solos do you want from our chorus songs?" Mrs. Embervail is smiling so wide, and is resisting the urge to stand up and start cheering for one of her favorite pupils.

"Well, I did want the first verse of Rolling in the Deep. And one of my best friends and I really wanted to turn the last chorus of Smile into a duet. I know you wanted to set it up as a solo, but I think me and him could–"

"Ally. I honestly don't see the point in having you sing when I know you're going to blow me away. Just tell Austin to come in, and if he does nearly as good as you, we'll turn any song into anything you guys want."

And with that her smile grows till the point where it is at clown level, and she skips out of the room to tell Austin he's next, and that he will be amazing.

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"It's a simple four step dance, Ally! You can do it!" Trish yells at her best friend; they had been at rehearsal for over an hour, and were still working on the very first dance move. Ally was almost in tears; her two biggest flaws were being shoved right in her face, reminding her why her dream of making it big in the music industry was so impossible.

"Trish, lay off her," Austin says defensively as he walks into the room. The raven haired girl looks like she is ready to explode.

"FINE! Fine, I won't help anymore. I didn't want to in the first place. I'm going to the band room to sing along to whatever song Dez is playing on the piano." She storms out of the room, leaving Ally and Austin alone in the dance room.

"Hey, Ally, it's okay. Trish just has a short temper. I'm sure you weren't that bad."

"I've just been fooling myself. I don't want to hear you lie to me, too."

"Ally, I'll help you. We'll break it down, and I can make a lot of the dance moves easier."

"Don't you get it, Austin? I'm a hopeless case! I've been lying to myself, saying that I'll be able to go on stage and sing and even do a little dancing! But that won't ever happen, because I'm not good at anything!" She screams the last few lines, and Austin is taken aback.

"Stand up."

"No. I just want to sit here and do nothing."

"Well, that's not going to happen. So stand up."

When she doesn't follow his instruction, he picks her up off the floor, and forces her to stand. He grabs the stereo remote off the floor as well, and skips to track 11; one of their favorite slow songs.

"This is how we warm up. By doing a dance you know and actually are good at."

She feels the corners of her mouth turn up slightly as she recalls what song is playing; "Just a Dream," by Nelly, one of the more complicated slow/fast dances they had developed and drilled into her over the summer.

He takes her hand, and the start their salsa-like routine. She steps on his feet a few times, and even more on her own, but she can feel herself adjusting to stepping in the right places at the right time.

It's over in a blur, and Austin claps for her once the song ends.

"See? You can dance, Ally. It just takes you a lot more time and dedication than the rest of us. And trust me, the moves for "Nothing" are super easy."

"If you say so."

They work hard and long, frustrating each other, but still keeping a generally happy vibe. Austin cracks lots of jokes to calm her down, and she does horrible dance moves when she gets too annoyed, just to make him smile. They add at least a dozen more inside jokes to their collection, and after working for six straight hours, Ally actually can dance one of the three songs they had been working on.

"Now I just have to learn four more! Why don't I already know them?" He can tell she's over the top excited, because she is asking questions like a maniac. She skips ahead of him out of the school, while he just smiles and chuckles at how happy she can become.

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"What do you mean you're not going to dance? We've been working so hard, Ally! You have two songs down, perfect. Just three more left."

"Look, I'm sorry, Austin. But last night, it hit me: I have _stage fright._ I literally started crying, because in one week, not only am I expected to sing an entire song by myself, but also two verses of an Adele master piece."

"But you aren't nervous to sing the duet with me?"

"How can I be. I'll only have to look at you for that."

"Okay, that solves one thing. But what about the other two songs?"

"I already talked to Mrs. Embervail. I have be on stage for my own song," she pauses to roll her eyes, "But I'll be hiding behind the piano. And for 'Rolling in the Deep,' I am going to be behind the curtain singing. Every other song I'm just in the chorus parts, and she said I can stand in the back with the people who don't have the dances down perfectly. All I'll have to do is learn really easy hand movements, and some feet things."

He crosses his arms over his chest, and anyone could see in his eyes how disappointed he is.

"Well, good. You can chicken out like normal. Who cares if I blew off Dez, so I could teach you all the moves to 'Nothing.' Who cares if I didn't study for a history test, _which I completely failed, by the way,_ so I could choreograph your song." And with that, he turns on his heels, and pushes the steel door of the chorus room open. It's slammed shut before she can even blink.

Everyone else in the room turned to see what the commotion was; it's not every day they see the talented duo fight.

"Ally, are you okay?" Missy Fragger asks. Everyone knows Ally, and she is the type of girl you can say you're friends with even if you don't know her, but these people actually have worked with her, and care for her.

"No, I'm not. I haven't seen him so hurt and angry in awhile." Her eyes are big with tears, and in a flash she whips out her phone.

"Are you going to call him?" Brittany Sander questions, while stepping closer to the petite brunette.

"No. I'm going to call Dallas. He knows how to calm me down." And then she walks out of the room, phone pressed against her ear, and everyone just stares after her.

"Well, Austin won't like that she's turning to that tan hunk, instead of him," Missy says, and the room is quiet for awhile.

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"Are you serious?" He asks through the phone. He knew Austin, not very well, but still, he didn't pin him as the drama type.

"_Completely. I'm not sure if I should feel mad, or sad."_ The bad reception makes her voice sound crackly, and he is straining to make out her words.

"Be mad. You didn't ask him to give up his time. He just did. He doesn't have the right to flip out at you." He smiles, cause he knows she's smiling, too.

_"You always know just what to say to me, Dallas_."

"It's what I'm here for, Ally. But I have to go; I've gone over my five minute break."

"_Oh. I'm sorry, my rambling about Austin made me lose track of time. He is always so–"_

_"_You know before I go, I have something to mention."

"_Yeah?"_

_"_It's just that, well...everyone of our conversations involves Austin in some way."

She snorts, as if he just said the dumbest thing.

"_Well, yeah, he is my best friend."_

_"_But sometimes, I can't help but notice how you guys seem like more than that."

She stays silent for a second, and he can tell, she is probably getting angry at him, too. "_Well, we are just friends. You said you had to go. Bye."_

And just like that, he can hear the low beeping noise that means she hung up_. _He sighs.

It isn't the first time he brought up this topic. She's real sensitive about it, and he has a couple guesses why. But, he can't not feel jealous of how it's always _Austin and Ally._ Really, what happens to Trish and Dez? Do they just get out shined, pushed aside, and forgotten?

And it's not something that should bother him. He and Ally aren't even official. They've been out once or twice alone, but nothing romantic happened.

He's defiantly learned a big lesson; the friend zone sucks as much as everybody says it does.

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It's the very first dress rehearsal. It's the only dress rehearsal. And that is not cool in any way to anyone. The music department hired a real photographer (Dez was a little put off that they wouldn't hire him), and they were planning on sending a copy of tomorrows performance into a national competition. So, really, one dress rehearsal is basically setting yourself up for suicide in both of their minds.

They haven't resolved their fight yet, and every member of the choir and select choir don't like the awkward, harsh air that fills the room.

They start off in the dance room, stretching while singing random songs to warm up their voices. Ally and Trish are talking to their closest friends in the music department, and Ally ends up being dared to do a cartwheel, something she doesn't exactly have talent for, while free style rapping. She does it, though, making everyone stare at her. She does a total of five sloppy cartwheels back to back, and everyone is laughing at her horrible rap. Even Austin, who got caught up in the moment of her awkward and bubbly-ness, is laughing. And, by some miracle or fate or coincidence, whatever you want to call it, her final cartwheel lands her right next to him.

They're both laughing and smiling and leaning on each other the way that best friends do when they laugh. And then it's over all too quickly, as she darts back across the room.

Next, they all shuffle out into the auditorium for the purpose of using the stage. The concert is simply a choir concert. The beginning is just normal choir, and then after intermission, it's only soloists. The beginning is about forty minutes, and the second half is about a half an hour.

The first song they go over is the one Austin got most of the verses in, and the one she worked hard to learn; "Nothing," by The Script. Only she doesn't have to be in the very front row, with the rest of the people who really know the dance. She's just in the very back where no one can see her, adding emphases on certain moves, and just standing as perfectly still as a wax figure, until the chorus rolls around. Then she opens her eyes wide, and sings out without drawing attention to herself.

For this song, there is no real choreography. Everyone that isn't singing a solo just stands exactly how she does in every song; like a solid piece of wood. Whoever has the solo (Austin, and only for the verse after the first chorus, Daniele joins him) weaves themselves in and out of the people. A few people get to open their eyes and stare after him, and during the chorus they all come alive. They sing to each other, and act out 'characters', so to speak.

They run it smoothly twice, and then move on. Next is one of her favorites; 'Express Yourself.' it's one of those rare songs that the instructor didn't split into anything more than harmonies.

They all stay in the neat rows we had for the last song, and stomp and clap the beat. Slowly, the first row fades into something different. Then the second. Then the third. But not the fourth, where she is. They just stomp and clap the beat. They are welcome to throw in a dance move, as long as they keep clapping.

Besides the moves the people in the front rows do, the most dance-y part of this song is the bridge. Everyone forms one big circle, and people that can dance and tried out for 'spotlight dances' go in the center, one at a time, while the rest chant with rhythm, a cappella , and, of course, continue to clap.

Austin steps in the center last, and does this weird snapping move and a turn, with a fall backward. People catch him and push him back up. He does a bunch of tricks with his feet, and then moonwalks back into the circle. And then, after the added piano roll, BAM! Song is over.

Next is 'Rolling in the Deep,' but it's nothing more than snapping to the left, then to the right, and so on. She's more comfortable, considering that she stays back stage rather than on stage, and sings out better because she knows no one is watching her. Thankfully, it's only Trish and herself who have solos during this song, so it blends nicely and isn't choppy.

Ally starts it, Trish gets second verse, and is back and forth like that all the way through. Simple. Done.

After that, it's "I'm Coming Out," by Diana Ross. She doesn't stand in the very back, but the third row. It's nerve wrecking, even without an audience, but all she has to do is the grape vine, and then a simple four-four dip dance with Danny Bunder. It's lots of fun and there are a lot more soloists and duets, but they make it work.

Really, it's the grapevine, dip dance, and the soloists walk across the front of the stage. That's how creative it gets.

The finale for the first half is 'Smile', which herself and Austin sing the very last chorus to in a duet. Two other people got solos in the verses, and this one does have choreography, and she can't escape from it.

Worse, she's towards the front. But it's really simple. Austin and her were paired, considering they do have to sing to each other. The moves range from holding hands and swaying back and forth, to chasing around one another at a slow pace.

It's crazy awkward for them, but still, they wanted to do a duet to this song because it describes their friendship to a level, and is a song that was ever reoccurring over the summer; it has sentimental value.

Once they finish that, they are sent home, except for the people that have a solo song and want to stay longer to work on it.

Austin looks over to her, and asks with no emotion whatsoever, "Are you staying?"

"No. I already know it backwards. The hard part is going to be singing in front of everyone. You staying?"

"Yeah. I want to add some more choreography."

"Oh. Cool."

"Yeah. See you tomorrow." And then he walks in the opposite direction, towards Missy.

She gathers her belongings, and knows that her dad is already in bed, and Austin wouldn't give her a ride, considering that he's staying and is obviously still mad. She'll be walking home, it appears. Or maybe she will just sneak away with Trish, and spend the night at her house.

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The next day is the concert. Ally wound up staying at Trish's, and they went to Ally's right after a late breakfast to get ready.

It's not like many people go crazy to dress up for a concert, as if it were prom, but Trish takes any chance she can to dress herself and anyone else up. Every song requires a costume change, and she was very concerned about how much time she would have to switch between songs.

Ally hates how Trish molds her like a lump of clay, but is used to it by now. First she is exiled to the shower, and before she shuts the bathroom door, Trish gives her a whole bag full of facial washes, body washes, and even a few different types of razors and shaving creams. The brunette sighs; she knows that her friend intends for her to use everything in the bag.

It's a process that literally takes all day. Trish slathers on layers and layers of makeup, and creates an emergency bag full of the main products she used. Then she curls Ally's hair into perfect ringlets, and does an elegant fish tail braid from the right side of her head, traveling around and then down the left side of her chest. Wisps of curls fly out, but the shorter girl fixes them so it doesn't look frizzy, but more than perfect. Her outfits range from dark greens, to pure sparkles. She loves that Trish knows her exact style, and is courteous enough to even shop for her.

Bye the time they are stepping into the car, Trish has straight hair that is pinned back with two French braids, and a braided ballerina bun. Her dark eyes are framed with light brown eye liner, no mascara, and sparkly grey eye shadow. Her lips are a natural looking pink. She's in a yellow and black zebra short dress, and four inch tall high heels. She's never been more proud of an outfit.

Ally is dressed more like herself. Her makeup is very light: a brown eye liner like her friend, only a little bit heavier mascara. Her eye shadow is just a smear of tan that makes her eyes pop, and lips are glossy and are a light seashell pink. Her dress is thick strapped, creating a V neck, and is a solid tan color that compliments her skin tone in just the right way. Her heels are barely two inches, and she has trouble walking straight in them. But she is happy that Trish was able to give her a look that still let her feel like herself.

Mr. Dawson's jaw drops when he turns back to see the girls, and gushes over how his little girls are all grown up. The girls blush and give thank yous, nervous that they might be a little over dressed.

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It's five minutes till show time, and Ally is a sweaty, disgusting mess. She's holding her stomach in the girls' lavatory, positive that she won't be able to move until the concert is over. Every time she closes her eyes, she sees the audience. Dallas, her father, her cousin...they all came to see her.

There's pounding on the stall door, people swarming into the bathroom. It's just a blur of voices and noises, that only send her deeper into stage fright, but one person's voice breaks the sound barrier, and she is taken aback; she thought he was still mad at her.

"Ally, I'm crawling under there," It's not a question, just a statement, and she can see a hand, and then another, and then his golden crown of hair is visible. She does the first thing she can think to do; she hugs him.

He returns the embrace, capturing her waist tightly. He picks her off the floor, and she raises her knees. They are cramped for space, but still make do.

"I am so sorry, Austin. I make you teach me all the dance moves, and then I don't even use them, but just stand in the back. And now, I'm not even going on stage!" Her tone comes out huskily, and she's shaking from nerves.

"No. No, you're going on stage. And you'll be awesome. Like normal. And really, it's fine about the whole dancing thing; I had tons of fun teaching you. I acted stupid."

They tighten the hug more, breathing in each other's warmth and support. Without her knowing, he unlocks the stall door discreetly. Thankfully, he doesn't have to do the dragging. Trish has that position all tied up.

Ally kicks and screams and wiggles, but ultimately, Trish and Austin get her out on the stage. And she freezes, taking deep breathes in.

Mrs. Embervail gives a warm introduction, and expresses how proud she is of all of us, and wishes everyone in the audience a good time. The next thing she knows, Ally hears the down note for "Nothing," and is so thankful she doesn't have to do anything, really. And, it helps that she gets to listen to Austin sing.

Everything goes as planned. Ally is stiff, and often keeps her eyes closed, but she doesn't miss a single move. Truthfully, the only thing getting her through it is knowing Austin is on the stage with her. The first half is over in a blink, and she does a happy dance backstage, thinking about how she sang _a solo, on stage._ It's not exactly concurring her fear, because she kept her eyes shut and felt faint many times, and is in no way looking forward singing all by herself, but she feels better than she did half an hour ago.

Intermission is over way too fast for anyone in the casts liking, and next is strictly the solo portion of the concert. Her song was scheduled next to last; right after Trish's, right before Austin's.

It's funny, because she never even told either of them what song she would be singing. She wanted it to be a surprise. And they didn't tell her what they were singing, either.

Trish does "Forget You," in a sparkly mini skirt, pure white shirt, and four inch, fluorescent pink heels. It's really beautiful, and she receives a standing ovation; Ally can't be sure, but she thinks Dez is clapping and cheering louder than anyone else.

And suddenly, her feet carry her across the stage, to the piano bench. She clears her throat, and attempts to steady her shaking hands. But it doesn't work, because the first time she tries to play the chords, she messes up.

And it is the most humiliating thing ever, to her. She knows this song backwards; she's been told she sings it in her sleep.

And then she fights back tears, and starts again, only to end up failing even quicker. And now she buries her face in her hands, wishing to just disappear. She knew this was a bad idea. She's even allowing a few tears to roll down her foundation-covered cheeks, which will surely earn her a scolding from Trish.

She doesn't hear the footsteps, but she does notice when he comes right over to her, and sits down next to her.

"Ally, come on, sit up," he whispers gently, and she just turns her head as if to say, I'm-dying-of-embarrassment-and-want-you-to-leave-me-alone. But he doesn't seem to get the message, cause he keeps repeating the line. Eventually, he just lifts her chin himself, and brushes away the tears with his thumb.

"Now, just start to play."

"Austin, I can't. I keep shaking and messing up."

"I have a plan, Ally, just do as I say." They are whispering, and theoretically not even supposed to be talking on stage; microphones are planted everywhere.

She sighs reluctantly, and puts her fingers over the starting keys, and plays them. In seconds, he knows what song she is going to sing, and puts his hands over hers, keeping her steady.

She blushes deeply at the touch, but they continue to play. She starts singing softly, and she looks over to Austin. Immediately, she feels relaxed, and sings out more. And then she's back to staring at her hands, making sure to press the right keys. She loses the feeling of warmth when he slips off stage, but knows he just wants her to have a spotlight moment for once; and just this once, she'll let it happen.

Really, to her it feels like he is still on stage with her. But it's most likely because she chose to sing this song because of him, for him. It might not be exactly the feelings they share, but it's along the lines, and really wants to make it clear to him that yes, she does love him in a way. But she is in no way _in_ love with him. They don't need something to complicate what they have even more than it already is.

By the end of the song, she's singing so comfortably, and for the first time in years, she likes being on stage. It's a split second feeling, but it was there. And that's what she calls progress. She gets a standing ovation, even bigger than Trish's. She's crying again, only it's from the bundle of emotions that she is feeling. And this time, it's not humiliation; it's joy and love and appreciation and so many other wonderful feelings that just swallow her whole.

She does get uncomfortable with all the stares, and she bolts backstage, straight into Austin's arms. He picks her up and spins her in a hug; he's had a lot of Ally Dawson fan moments, and he's been crazy proud of her before, but never quite this much.

He has to go out on stage, and he's smiling and cool about it. His song starts, and she knows it really well. Actually, she's the one who got it stick in Austin's head numerous times.

"Our Time Now," is blasting through the speakers and he sings it flawlessly, just like always. She understands why Mrs. Embervail wanted it as the ending number; only Austin can bring enough energy and life to an ending.

There's so much clapping, maybe not as much as her, but every seat is vacant because everyone is standing up. Everyone runs out on stage and are hugging, jumping up and down, and even doing cartwheels.

The three of the four friends that were in the concert hug and hug, the girls squealing and the guy laughing.

The stage lights turn off and the ones over the audience turn on, so people can maneuver out. Mr. Dawson wants to congratulate all three of them, but knows it's a mad dash, and knows it will be easier to do so next time he sees them at Sonic Boom, which coincidently is where the gang (all four of them) are staying for the night. It's a short enough distance to walk, and they all know that they can't sleep after a performance like that.

Dallas finds her in seconds, and before she can even form his name, his lips are on hers. It's for three seconds, tops, but it's her first and it means the world to her. Austin feels like it is a little to public, and something no one wants to see, but judging by the wolf whistles and cheering, he is the only one. But he is happy for his best friend, none the less.

She throws her arms around his neck, and kisses him again. It's no longer than five seconds, but it feels so good and she wants to savor the feeling. But the second time, Austin really doesn't feel too great. In fact, he feels like throwing up.

Dallas shouts over the noise about how amazing she was, and she thanks him but says she has to go and get changed. They hug goodbye, and while turning their backs to each other, they are both thinking about how this just made them official. But the thought leaves Ally's mind in a flash; the real reason she said bye to Dallas was because she saw Austin duck out the back door of the choir room.

She follows him out, and they are in the back parking lot of the school.

"Hey," she says softly, and he snaps back towards her.

"Hey," he says gruffly but still in a happy tone.

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing. Why would anything be wrong?" it comes out a little too sarcastic, and she knows that he is lying.

"Austin," she pauses and walks up to him, "you know you can tell me anything."

"There is nothing wrong, Ally. Swear."

"I'll believe you when you look me in the eyes and say that." His head rises so he isn't staring at the ground, but he still has to angle it slightly down so he can make eye contact with her.

"There is nothing wr–" and he cuts out, because he can't look in those pure brown eyes and lie. He isn't a liar, period.

"Tell me, Austin."

"I'm not even sure, Ally." She knows this is true, because he is looking directly at her.

"When did the mood start?" and then she gasps, because he looked down again, and she knows what that means. "Oh, come on, Austin!"

He snaps back up, and asks, "What?" cause he isn't entirely sure what she means himself.

"Just because me and Dallas are officially dating doesn't mean I won't have time for you!"

He is thankful she came up for a reason, because honestly, he didn't have one himself. All he knew was his stomach was tied in knots, and he wanted to just punch Dallas right on the nose.

"Are you sure it won't cut into Austin and Ally time?" He asks, but for some reason, the explanation doesn't loosen his stomach that much, if anything.

"Austin, he may be my boyfriend or whatever now, but you're my best friend. You are more of a priority to me."

This, however, does stop some of the clenching. They walk back inside, and round up Trish and Dez who were caught in the middle of a hug. They felt bad for breaking up the moment, but they all really wanted to get to Sonic Boom so they could have their own after party. Pizza, some silly songs, some inside jokes, some dancing, and maybe even a movie on the laptop in Mr. Dawson's office. A perfect night for them.

It's a day none of them will forget; Austin will never forget how stunning Ally looked in every single one of her dresses, or how breath taking her performances were. Ally won't ever forget her first kiss, or the fact that she did conquer apart of her fear. Trish will never forget her first standing ovation, or the feeling like she does belong in with the gang, after all. Dez will never forget the first time his Latina best friend didn't scare him to death, but actually took his breath away.

It's exactly how they planned their first concert that they had leading roles in to go. It's more than they hoped for, and Dez even got some really great footage to upload to the website.

It's one of those bittersweet moments, when they know something that they worked really hard on is over and done with, but it was worth it.

It's Austin who falls asleep last; he stayed up late, re-watching the video Dez shot of Ally's solo performance. He can't get over the fact she sang in front of all those people. He can't get over the fact that, whether she admitted it to him or not, that she sang the song for him.

It's possibly the most touching thing she has ever done for him, and it leaves him smiling and feeling tingly all over.

.

.

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* * *

**A/N: Sorry this doesn't meet the level my last fic in this archive was. And sorry this wasn't anything more than Auslly friendship, but I am trying to be patient and let the show progress as just their friendship for awhile. Look up the songs mentioned on Youtube. Btw, since I wasn't exactly clear; the song Ally sings for her audition (Here I Am by Leona Lewis) is the same one she sings in the concert.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot. Not the songs, the characters, etc...**


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